Guardiola: Having Messi was like Phil Jackson having Michael Jordan

It seemed like a reunification between Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi last summer was unavoidable, yet the Argentine signed for Paris Saint-Germain. Still, the Catalan coach is still full of admiration for the Argentine and has compared him to Michael Jordan.

Jordan, widely considered as the greatest basketball player ever, led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA Championships, whilst Messi almost singlehandedly led Barcelona at times.

"What does Messi mean? Everything, everything, Messi is like Michael Jordan," Guardiola said in an interview with Ole.

"It's like when Phil Jackson could feel that feeling that everything was flowing and there were no problems.

"I owe him a good bottle of wine to thank him for the contracts he allowed me to sign.

"We had an amazing group of players who helped him when we were together at Barcelona in those four years. There were a lot of stars at the right time and the right age for everyone, with Xavi, Carles Puyol and Andres Iniesta too.

"There was unique chemistry. Without Messi, we would still have won. But, would we have won so much? No, impossible."